Attorney on teen charged in Lehigh U. attack: “maybe juvenile is the best place for him.”

A Bethlehem teenager accused of trying to rape and murder a Lehigh University student after sneaking into her off-campus apartment while she slept has several mental illnesses and should not be tried as an adult, his defense attorney says.

Bryan Sanchez-Osorio, 17, is seeking to have his attempted murder case transferred to juvenile court, under a filing last week by public defender Anthony Rybak, who said his client recently relocated from Puerto Rico and has been hospitalized in the past for psychological problems.

Sanchez-Osorio is charged with attacking a 23-year-old student early July 16, choking her and smothering her with a pillow until she was unconscious and her face turned blue. Police say he told officers who arrested him at the South Side home that he was afraid she was dead when officers arrived.

Rybak's motion, filed Friday in Northampton County Court, requests a hearing at which he would have to show that the public interest is best served in juvenile court, under which Sanchez-Osorio could be held until he is 21. The bid will be opposed by prosecutors, with District Attorney John Morganelli saying he would be "shocked" if a judge were to grant it given the seriousness of the allegations.

Rybak's paperwork includes mental health records from Puerto Rico that show Sanchez-Osorio has been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity and severe depression, and had been prescribed three psychotropic medications to treat his disorders. Rybak also noted that Sanchez-Osorio turned 17 exactly two months before his arrest.

"If he's got mental stuff that makes him not able to conform, maybe juvenile is the best place for him," Rybak said.

Sanchez-Osorio is being held under $100,000 bail. Charged as an adult, he faces counts that include attempted murder, attempted rape, aggravated assault and burglary.

"That was a very brutal crime and it would be our position clearly to oppose decertification," Morganelli said. "This person, based on his conduct, is a danger to the community and I want to get as maximum a sentence as I can with him."

The juvenile system is typically seen as more lenient and more focused on rehabilitation than the adult courts. In mulling a decertification request, judges weigh whether defendants are amenable to treatment as juveniles versus the threat they pose to public safety and the impact of their alleged crimes.

According to court records, the student said she awoke in her bedroom on the 400 block of Carlton Avenue to find Sanchez-Osorio, a stranger, standing before her with a T-shirt covering his face.

As the woman screamed and fought, Sanchez-Osorio wrapped his hands around her throat and used a pillow to smother her until she passed out, police said.

Hearing her cries, the woman's roommates called 911, police said. Officers encountered Osorio-Sanchez coming out of the woman's bedroom, buttoning his shorts and sweating, fresh scratches on his chest, police said.

The woman was discovered unconscious and partially nude on her bedroom floor. Her face was blue and she had marks on her upper chest and neck consistent with strangulation, police said.